Can button



(No Model.) I 3 Sh eetsSheet 1. F. H. RICHARDS;

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BUTTON FASTENERS.

No. 322,971. Patented J'u'1y'Z8, 1885".

u. PETERS. Phelo-lilhagnphon Waahlngian, 0.1:.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2..

P. HRmHARDs.

MECHANISM I'D R FEEDING BUTTON FASTENERS. No. 322,971; Patented July 28.1885.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

F. H. RICHARDS.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BUTTON FASTENERS. No. 322,971. Patented Ju1y28,1885.-

N. PETERS. FMo-Lilhugnphd, Wllhinglon, D- C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASS, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERI- OANBUTTON FASTENER COMPANY, OF NEW BRITAIN, CONN.

MECHANISM FOR FEEDING BUTTON-FASTENERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,971, dated July 28,1885.

Application filed December 26, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS H. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement inButton-Fastener- Feeding Machines, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine embodying my invention. Fig.2 is an elevation of the front side of the same, drawn in projection toFig. 1. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the end at the left hand in Fig. 2.Fig. 4 is a partial section on line X X, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a verticalsection through the carrier-wheel online Y Y, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a figureused for illustrating the principle on which the machine is constructed.Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of a part of Fig. 4.

Similar reference-characters refer to similar parts throughout theviews.

This invention relates to improvements in machinery for feeding thatkind of buttonfasteners known in market as Kempshalls One-ProngButton-Fasteners from a hopper into a fastener-receiving channel ormagazlne.

The object of my invention is to furnish a machine adapted toautomatically feed said button-fasteners, or others substantiallysimilar, into the said channel so they will all rest therein in the sameposition.

To this end the invention consists in certain combinations. ofmechanism, which will first be described in connection with thedrawings, and afterward particularly pointed out in the claims.

The principle on which the machine is constructed is substantially this:An apron or platform having a slot or channel, 10, across it is placedin about a horizontal position, A, Fig. 6, and a charge consisting ofseveral of the button-fasteners is taken from a place of supply anddelivered onto said apron by means of any convenient elevator apparatus.Having received its charge, the apron is then gradually tipped, as shownby dotted lines at A or carried and tipped to about the position shownat A*, A being an intermediate position, when those fasteners not havingtheir prongs in the channel will slide off and be returned into theplace of supply, which result may be facilitated and accelerated bymeans of a slight shaking of said platform by a device speciallyprovided therefor, or by the natural vibration of the machinery.

A magazine having a groove adapted to receive the fasteners is so placedthat when said apron reaches position A the channel thereof willcoincide with the entrance to said magazine, into the groove of which aplunger then drives any fasteners remaining in said channel. After thisoperation is completed the channeled apron is conveyed to its formerposition to receive another charge of the fasteners, to be disposed ofas before.

It will be obvious on examining Fig. 6 that the apron may be carried ineither a vertical or a circuitous route, as shown, and that if carriedin the latter it may be returned to its position at A either bycontinuing or by reversing its motion.

In the machine herein described this principle has been embodied in anoperative mechanism in which the apron is moved in a circuit, whichcircuit is a circular one, and has a series of the said aprons orplatforms moving therein in regular succession. For delivering thecharges of fasteners onto the platforms I prefer a bucket-conveyoradapted to take the said fasteners out of a hopper or receptacle intowhich they are thrown in a mass.

In the drawings, B designates the base of the frame-work of the machine.On this base there is erected the principal upright, D, a bucket-wheelbearing, 0, and the post E. The upright D has formed therein a bearingfor apron-wheel F, which is held in said bearing by cap 2, secured byscrews 3. Said upright is also provided with side extensions, which formhopper H, and it is mortised at 4, Figs. 4 and 5, to admit of .thepassage of the conveyer, and at 5, Fig. 4, the pawl which turns theapron-wheel. This wheel consists of the rim, with which thereference-letter F is connected, and a series of spokes, 6, projectinginwardly from said rim and each carrying onehalf of two adjacent slottedaprons of the kind shown in Fig. 6, the extent of one of said apronsbeing indicated by dotted lines 7 and 8, Fig. 3. By combining a seriesof such slotted aprons into a wheel, as shown, there is formed a seriesof aprons, 9, each composed of the opposite halves of two such as shownin Fig. 6, the slots 10 being now between rather than in them. Thus wehave aseries of aprons and slots, of which the slots may be in or.between the aprons according to the method of construetion adopted, andwhich in either case operates on precisely the same principle.

In order to increase the efficiency of the apron-wheel, depressions 1];and 12, Fig. 6, of about the form shown, are formed in the aprons oneither side of the slots, the effect of these being to so guide thefasteners in their passage over the slots during the tipping of saidaprons that their prongs will more frequently fall through, and with theheads in the right direction, as shown at 13, Fig. 6. Notwithstandingthis, however, some of the fasteners may be carried up with their headsturned in the wrong direction, as at 14, position A, the

long end of the heads reaching beyond the narrow depression 12. Tofacilitate the dislodgment of these, the upper side of the slot isinclined, as at 15, so that the weight of the head will overbalance thatof the prong, and thus cause the fastener to fall out. The opposite edgeof depression 11 is beveled off to about the angle shown at 16, so thatany fastener lying fiatwise, as at 17, Figs. 4 and 5, over the slotswill slide off before said slots reach position A".

It will be understood that if a fastener while in avertical plane-entersa slot, it immediately falls through, as shown at 18, Fig. 5. and isreturned to the mass in the hopper.

S designates the driving-shaft, which runs in bearings formed in uprightD and post E,

and which is provided with pulley P,whereby it is driven with cam M,which acts through pawl 20 against notches 19 of the apron-wheel forintermittently rotating said Wheel, and with cam N, which is hereindescribed. Cam M is preferably so formed as to impart an irregularupward movement to said pawl for the purpose of shaking or jarring theapron-wheel while it is turning, as h'ereinbefore mentioned. The saidpawl is preferably furnished with a roller, 21, hearing against saidcam. It has also a pin, 22, which is acted upon by spring 23 for thepurpose of keeping the point of said pawl against the apron-wheelnotches.

The construction of this apron-wheel feeding mechanism is such that eachrevolution of the driving-shaft will bring one of the slots 10 of saidwheel into line with the fastenerreeeiving channel L, which is rigidlysupported on the frame in any convenient way. As shown in the drawings,it is secured by a screw, 25, to an car, 26, projecting from hopper H,this hopper being considered a part of the frame. At the end nearest theapronwheel the channel L is about radial to said wheel, but in passingtherefrom takes aspiral course until it reaches a vertical position, asat 64, Fig. 2.

On the opposite side of the apron-wheel per-Wall and post E. Saidplunger is -oper-- ated by cam N, acting on roll 28 of lever 29, whichlever is pivoted to the frame at 30, and connected to the plunger at31in the ordinary way of making such connections.

The construction and arrangement of the parts are such that cam N actsto throw the plunger away from the apron-wheel toward the right hand inFigs. 1 and 2, and a spring, 33, connected to said lever at 34 and tothe frame at 35, is provided for driving the plunger toward said wheelwhenever the cam will permit it so to do.

Plunger G is provided with awin g, 40, which serves as a spline toprevent it from turning in its bearings, and which when,in the operationof the machine. a slot, 10, is in line with channel L, acts to drive anyfasteners properly placed in said slot out of the same into saidchannel, this being accomplished by the power of spring 33 aforesaid.The working end of said plunger, is preferably provided with a plate,41, formed to correspondwith depressions 11 and 12, as at'42, Fig. 7.This plate should have a projection, 43, for pushing around theheads ofany fasteners which may reach position 14, Fig. 7, with their heads inthe wrong direction, and also afinger, 44, for dislodging any bunches offasteners which may come up into range with it, as at 45, Fig. 4.

For the purpose of supplying fasteners to the apron-wheel in suitablequantities and at proper intervals, an endless conveyer provided withsuitable buckets is arranged to receive said fasteners from hopper anddischarge them a bucketful at a time onto the lowest part of saidapron-wheel, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. This conveyer consists of achambered wheel, W, the lower part of which coincides approximately withthe hopper. Bnckets 48 are placed within said chamber to receive thefasteners from the bottom of the hopper, as at 49, Fig. 5, and toelevate them to 50,where they will discharge onto the apronwheel, asshown in said figure. The bucketwheel may be madein two parts, heldtogether by two screws, 51, to allow the placing of it in positionsurrounding the lower side of the apron-Wheel. A part of the peripheryof said bucket-wheel is fitted to bearing 0, being held therein by cap60, and revolved by belt 61 or equivalent means.

By comparing Figs. 3 and 6 it will be seen that the position of channelL in Fig. 3 corresponds with that of the apron at A in Fig. 6, and thateach of the aprons composing the apron-wheel passes through successivepoints in its circuit which correspond to the successive positions A, A,and A; hence it is obvious that said wheel may justly be considered asconsisting of one or more slotted aprons, each of which, when a seriesis employed, acts independently of the others.

The operation of my improved button-fastener-feeding machine will bereadily understood from the drawings and the preceding description,being as follows: The machinery being started up, a quantity offasteners, substantially such as described, are thrown into the hopper Hin a mass, which mass then slides down said hopper more or less intowheel W, the buckets of which take up charges of the fasteners and dumpthem onto the lower part of the apron-wheel, substantially as in Figs. 4and 5. From this point the fasteners are gradually carried forward intoalignment with channel L, all but those properly placed in slots 10being shaken or pushed off or through said slots before they reach thatpoint where those remaining are driven out by the plunger into thechannel, these operations continuing until the mass is exhausted. Itwill of course be understood that the cams are to be so timed as tooperate in succession, the apron-wheel being at rest while the plungerperforms its function, and vice 'versa.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In abutton-fastener-feeding machine, the combination of a slotted apron,means, substantially as described, for delivering buttonfasteners ontosaid apron, means, substantially as described, for tipping and bringingsaid apron into alignment with a fastener-receiving channel, afastener-receiving channel, and a plunger for pushing fasteners out ofthe slot in said apron into said channel, all arranged to operatesubstantially as described.

2. In abutton-fastener-feeding machine, the

combination of a series of slotted aprons arranged to travel in acircuit, means, substantially as described, for deliveringbutton-fasteners onto the lower aprons of said series, means,substantially as described, for moving forward said aprons in saidcircuit to successively bring each apron with its slot into alignmentwith a fastener-receiving channel, a fastener-receiving channel, and aplunger for pushing fasteners out of said slots into said channel, allarranged to operate substantially as described.

3. In a button-fastener-feeding machine, the combination of anapron-wheel having a series of slotted aprons supported by inwardly-projecting spokes and suitable operating devices, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a button-fastener-feeding machine, the combination of a slottedapron having depressions 11 and 12 and suitable operating devices,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In abutton-fastener-feeding machine, the combination of anapron-wheel having platforms 9, which are provided with depressions 11and 12, and a plunger provided with projection 43, and suitableoperative means, substantially as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of the apron-wheel F and its slotted aprons, hopperH, and bucketwheel W, and suitable operating means, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

FRANCIS H. RICHARDS.

fitnesses:

H. W. FAULKNER, G. O. PALMER.

